Happy Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day to my sweet husband Derek!! I love him always but today I want him to know exactly how much! We have only been married for a little over a year but it has been such a fun journey so far and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I started falling for Derek the day we met at our ward opening social. We sat as a group and talked about the TV shows we used to watch as kids and I couldn’t get over how handsome he was! I referred to him as the cute boy from church when I talked to my mom. We slowly started to get to know each other and a few months later we were dating. I worked with his sweet mom on campus and spend a lot of time with his family in Rexburg. I loved his family and he could take my family’s teasing and sarcasm so I knew he was perfect!

Marrying Derek was the best decision of my life! He has made me smile everyday since then. He is my sweetheart and my best friend. I don’t know what I would do without him. When he is gone I miss him and come to love him even more! We have so many sweet memories that I truly cherish and will always remember- our cruise being canceled twice but spending a wonderful week in the Carribbean. Decorating our little apartment and making it our first home together. Derek was so excited to hang pictures and decorate. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond everyday one week and joked that they knew us by name! We loved our little apartment and had many fun times- building a fort in the family room, shooting each other with our nerf guns, making dinner together, and just being togher always! We waited during a long short sale process and finally bought our first home. We have spent our time and money since then trying to make it home! I am grateful to have a husband that can do everything! He can fix anything in the house, change the oil in the cars, fix my breaks, change a tire, fix a yummy meal, clean, and scratch my back! I love him with all my heart and am so excited that he is mine forever!

Things I love about my Valentine:

- He loves God and has a testimony of the gospel 
-  He loves me unconditionally
- He puts me first and tries to make me happy
- He scratched my back when I’ve had a hard day
- He loves to serve and help others
- He is funny and easy to love!
- He makes me laugh
- He is patient with me when I am grumpy
- He is a jack of all trades
- He makes me a better person

 

       

Happy Valentine’s Day Sweetheart!

My Angel Mother

I am a little late on this post but the longer I take to write it the more I have to add to it! I wanted to write and wish my mom a happy birthday! She turned 50 on December 26 so yes I am very late! I am so blessed to have the most amazing mom in the whole world! We wanted to do something extra special for my mom for her 50^th birthday party so we decided to collect letters from friends and family and create a book of 50 years of memories. It was before Christmas and I knew people were really busy so I didn’t know how many I would get but I got email after email of letters to my mom. I loved her so much before but as I read the letters people wrote to her I grew to love her even more!! She has influenced so many people throughout her life. If you know my mom you know how bubbly and happy she is. Her smile is gorgeous and completely contagious! She leaves happiness wherever she goes. We go to Walmart and she has the cashier sharing recipes or giving movie suggestions! She loves life and lives it to the fullest. She has been a wonderful example of Christ like service and love. She would do anything for anyone and I want to be just like her.

  

Since her birthday my mom and I have had a lot of time together and have had a blast! She and I are both trying to decorate new houses so after each holiday she goes to stores while I am working and she buys us lots and lots of holiday decorations that go on sale. She went to Hobby Lobby and got us tons of Christmas decorations and the cutes purple tree for Halloween! I can’t wait for next October to put it up! Roberts was going out of business and she waited in line for hours to get 90% off- that is love! I am so grateful for my mom!

 

I spent this last weekend at my parents house in Alpine and we spent every minute working on something. My mom helped me paint an adorable frame she got me for Christmas and helped me make the cutest pincushion for my new sewing machine! We have so many projects on our list of things to do and I am grateful to have a mom that can do anything and everything!

I truly wish I could express how grateful I am for my mom and all she does for me. I know that God must have loved me so much to bless me with such an amazing mother. She is my angel! This is one of my favorite stories about mothers and it reminds me of my angel mother!

 

A baby asked God, "They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

"Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

The child further inquired, "But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy."

God said, "Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy."

Again the child asked, "And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?"

God said, "Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

God said, "Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"Who will protect me?"

God said, "Your angel will defend you even if it means risking her life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

God said, "Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, "God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"You will simply call her, 'Mom.'"

This is a song by Lauren Alaina called Like My Mother Does and I love it! I want to live my life like my mother does! Love you Mom!

Our New Home!

Derek and I have lots of stories to tell now! We have been so busy that we can’t find time to update the blog but life is good! I am loving my second year of teaching and Derek is enjoying his new job with Rio Tinto. He is now working in exploration and will be traveling throughout the United States to visit drill sites. We are close to celebrating our one year anniversary and it has been a great year. We spent the first 10 ½ months of our marriage in a nice basement apartment in Riverton, Utah. It was the home of a great family but it was VERY cold down there. I would come home everyday put on my warmest pair of sweats, sit by the space heater and wrap up in my blanket. Derek loved the cold but I was miserable so we began looking at homes just for fun. We were not really serious about buying a home at first but we decided we would start looking anyway. In April we went to the first house and loved it. It was a short sale in Herriman, and it was beautiful. Our realtor told us we could make an offer and there was no risk.  We looked an MANY other homes in the mean time. We waited, and waited and waited and waited some more. We would get updates saying we would hear in few weeks but months just kept passing. In August we were told we would hear on the 5^th of September but we had learned not to hold our breath! But finally on October 6 (Derek’s birthday!) we got a call saying the home was ours if we still wanted it. We quickly went and looked at it again, got all the inspections and appraisals done and closed on November 14. It really was a long wait but we couldn’t be happier.

  

The day after we got moved in there was a big snow storm. We were trying to unpack a few things but the snow was perfect snow man snow so we took a little break and made a couple of snowmen. I made mine and he was so cute. Derek decided he needed to make his bigger- it was huge! It was so fun building snowmen in our new front yard!

   

“SEW” Excited!

I had the best birthday ever! I truly have the most amazing family in the world! They made my birthday so special. My mom came into the school to have a little birthday party with my students. She brought cupcakes and hats for each student and they were thrilled. They asked if I could have birthdays more often! They each made me a little card and were all so sweet. I love my class! A few hours later our classroom door opened and I saw my two little nieces walk in with balloons and a sucker for each of my students! Cassie and the girls surprised me and my students too! When Brooklyn walked in and saw me she said “Stacy!” It was the best birthday present ever. I have been trying to get her to say my name since she was born! Abbey brought me some yummy chocolate and a gift card to Cold Stone! It was the best surprise ever!

Later that night  we went to my parents for dinner. We had steaks and corn on the cob. Yummy! Derek has been telling me how spoiled I am for weeks but I had no idea I was this spoiled. I opened my presents to find a brand new sewing machine!! I am SEW excited!! This summer my mom and I did a lot of sewing. We made a few quilts and I really loved using her machine. She and Derek decided to buy a nice one and everyone went in on it. This is so much more than I could have ever dreamed of and I am so grateful!! I have already found a few projects to start with my new machine. 

Thank you everyone for making this such a special day for me! I love you all!!